Elevator



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. R. HOPPER. ELEVATOR.

Patented June 23,1891.

Ira enfal':

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2. J. R. HOPPER. ELEVATOR.

No. 464,591. Patented June 23,1891.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFIoE.

JOHN R. HOPPER, OF ROCHESTER, NElV YORK.

'ELEVATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 454,591, dated June23, 1891.

Application filed December 29,1890. Serial No. 376,092. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN R. HOPPER, of Rochester, in the county ofMonroe and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Mechanism for Automatically Operating Elevator-Doors, whichimprovement is fully set forth in the following specification and shownin the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates more particularly to mechanisms for operating thedoors of freight elevators; and the object of the invention is mainly toconstruct a mechanism that will both open and close the doors of anelevatorwell by positive action by the car and without the use ofweights, springs, or other devices or machinery independent of the car.

The invention is hereinafter fully described, and more particularlypointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of a portionof an elevatorwell through a doorway; Fig. 2, a horizontal section ofparts within the well, taken on the dotted line 2 2 in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, aplan of the operating-bolt and the holder for the same; Fig. 4, a sideelevation of the holder for the operating-bolt; Fig. 5, an end elevationof the same; Fig. 6, a front elevation of a part of the exterior of thewell and the top of the doors; Fig. 7, a cross-section of a portion ofthe well on the dotted line 7 7 in Fig. 0; Fig. 8, a horizontal sectionof the ways, showing more fully the cross-heads; Fig. 9, a frontelevation of the cross-head and adjacent partof the ways, parts beingbroken away; Fig. 10, an edge view of the cross-head with parts brokenaway to expose its interior construction, and Fig. 11 a view of asliding door op erated by the mechanism.

Referring to the parts shown in the drawings, A is the well of anordinary freigllt elevator, B the guides for the car, and C a doorwayopening outonto a floor D of the build- 1ng.

E are vertical parallel ways extending from the top to the bottom of thewell, containing between them a channel a", with parallel sides. Theseways are made of timber and secured in position to the inner face of thewall of the well, preferably near one of the guides B.

tongues bl) to occupysaid grooves. Thesecross- V heads stand normallyone above the other, as shown in Fig. l, the distance between them beinggoverned by the extent of the travel of the doors, and are connected bya cord 0. This cord passes over a pulley (l, secured to one of the waysEjust above the upper cross-head, so that when the latter, for instance,is moved downward along the ways the lower cross-head will be caused tomove simultaneously upward to meet it, or when the lower cross-head ismoved upward the upper cross-head will simultaneously move downward, themotions of the two cross-heads being always directly toward or from eachother in the channel between the ways. A cord (2 is secured to the uppercross-head II and passes downward around a pulley f, secured to the waysE, thence upward around a pulley g and out through the wall of the wellaround a horizontal pulley 71., Figs. 1, 6, and '7. A second cord '1'.is secured to the lower cross-head I, passes downward around pulley 7e,thence upward and around pulley thence out through the wall of the well.hen the cross-heads are moved, as above described,the cord i acts toopen the doors and the cord 6 acts to close the doors by means describedfurther on.

The doors F and G, Figs. 6 and 7, are provided with brackets n and 0,respectively, holding horizontal rods 1) and 0. These rods are providedwith thimbles s and I, fitted to slide freely along them. The cord 6extends from the pulley h horizontally around a pulley 21-, held by thecasing above the door, and is connected with the thimble s. The cord 1passes around a pulley o, secured at the end of a bar K, extendinghorizontally outward from the well, thence to the thimble z, to which itis secured. On the opposite side of the Well a bar L, similar to K, isemployed holding a pulley w. This pulley holds a cord :0, one end ofwhich is secured to the thimble t and the other end to the thimble s,the cord passing around a pulley Z, secured to the easing above thedoor. Now from this description it will be understood that when thecrosshead I is moved upward by the car the cordi will be pulled upon,and from its connection with the door G, as above described, the latterwill be swung open or away from the well, as indicated by dottedposition in Fig. 7. Now when the door G swings back it will cause thedoor F to swing back also, on account of the cord 00 connecting the twodoors and passing around the pulley w, as stated. It will be understood,further, that these motions of the doors will also be produced by thecar when descending and carrying the cross-head II downward. 'As'thedoors swing open or shut the thiinbles slide along the respective rods19 and r, accordingly as the direction of pull upon them varies duringthe swing of the doors. The pull on the cordt' is substantially in adirect line between the pulleys 'v and Z, and as the door G swingsoutward it would carry the thimble 25 some distance to the left of thatline (as viewed in Fig. 7 werethe thimble rigid; but this thimble slidesto the right on r as the door swings outward, then afterward to theleft, so that the line between a; and Z is maintained substantiallystraight during the whole swing of the door. The action of the thimble sis similar and for the same purpose.

The cross-heads H and I are of peculiar construction. They are eachprovided with'two opposing pawls y and 2, Figs. 9 and 10, pivoted nearthe respective ends of the crosshead. These cross-heads are also eachformed with a rigid stud a, pierced with holes I), Fig. 8, to receivethe ends of the respective cords. The pawls and z occupy a verticalrecess or chamber 0, in each of the respective cross-heads, and havetheir free ends projected beyond the sides of the cross-head by springsd, as shown in Fig. 10.

c, Fig. 1, are four metal switch-bars secured to the two ways E E, tocross the channel or space between them at right angles. Their relationwith the cross-heads is such that when the latter are carried back ofthem they serve to force the pawls back into the chambers 0' against thesprings, as clearly shown in Fig. 10. For instance, in the normalpositions of the cross-heads, as shown in Fig. 1, the lower pawl a ofthe cross-head I and the upper pawl of the cross-head II are forced backinto their respective chambers c by the associated switch-bars, and whenthe crossheads are brought near together, as shown in the two dottedintermediate positions, the lower pawl of the cross-head II and theupper pawl of the cross-head I are forcedinto the recesses by the twointermediate switchbars.

The car is provided with a shiftable bolt f, Fig. 10, (more fully shown,however, in Figs. 2 to 5, inclusive,) held in position to encounter oneor anotherof the pawls as the car moves up or down in the well to slidethe cross-heads along the ways, as above described. This opcrating boltis supported by some convenient holder-as, for instance, a rectangularframe 9', secured rigidly to a convenient part h of the car. The bolt isprovided with arigid stud t" in position to enter a U shaped slot is inthe end of the frame g. By turning the bolt on its axis to bring thestud in the horizontal part of the slot it may be shifted endwise, so asin the one case to encounter any of the pawls as the car passes, or, inthe other case, withdrawn, so as to clear all of the pawls. In theformer case the car when ascending or descending operates the doors ofthe various stories as it passes them, and in the latter case the carpasses all the floors without acting upon any of them. The bolt is heldin either of its positions by turning it so the stud 2" shall enter oneor the other of the extreme branches of the slot.

The operation of the device is, briefly, as follows: When the car isdescending, for instance, the bolt f (being thrown out for action)encounters the pawls z of the cross-head H, as indicated in Fig. 10, andcarries the cross-head downward to its lower position. (Shown by dottedlines in Fig. 1.) This pulls the lower cross-head I upward to its upperposition, (shown also in dotted lines,) in doing which the two doors arethrown open in the manner already described. The bolt is so placed withreference to the floor of the car that said floor is even with the floorD of the building when the cross-head II arrives at its lower position,just stated. Then the cross-head reaches said position it comes behindthe sWitch-bar e in such a manner as to cause the latter to force thepawl z back into the cross-head out of the way of the bolt,whichprevents the cross-head from being carried any farther downward; butwhen the cross head is in this position the lower cross-head I is alsoat its upper position, in which its up per pawl y is depressed bytheswitch-bars e in contact therewith. Now, as the car moves on downward,it passes without touching the lower pawl of the cross-head H and theupper pawl of the cross-head I and encounters the lower pawl ofcross-head I, which positions of the parts are also truly represented inFig. 10. The descending car now forces the crosshead I to its lower ornormal position, in do ing which it closes the doors by simultaneouslycarrying the upper cross-head to its upper position and pulling on thecord 6. These operations are repeated at each floor of the building ifit is wished to open and close the doors as the car passes them.

This mechanism is not limited to operating swinging doors like thoseshown in the principal figures. It may without further invention beadapted to moving other kinds of doors. For instance, Fig. ll shows itsadaptation to a sliding door G. In this case the outriggers K and L,brackets a and o, cord .1, and other parts are dispensed with, and thecord 1' is made to turn around a pulley 0" at the wall of the well, and,like cord 0, run close to and parallel with said wall, and finallyconnect directly with the door by a stud n. Thence the cord passesaround a pulley o, secured to the casing, and joins the cord 0, the twocords being continuous, or virtually one and the same. The parts beingthus constructed and arranged, a pull on the cord '2: from within thewell Will cause the door to slide toward the right along the tracks 1) pto open the doorway of the well, while a pull by the cord 6 will closethe door.

hat I claim as my invention is- 1. A mechanism for operating doors ofelevator-wells, consisting of parallel ways within the well, coactingmovable cross-heads held in the ways, a cord connecting the crossheads,a pair of movable doors held to close the doorway, a cord connecting thelower cross-head with one of the doors, a cord connecting the uppercross-head with the other door, a cord connecting the two doors, andpulleys for the cords to run upon, substantially as shown and described.

2. A mechanism for operating the doors of an elevator-well, consisting,of parallel ways in the well and two coacting movable crossheads held bythe Ways, and a cord connecting said cross-heads, in combination withdoors acting together to close a doorway, cords connecting eachcross-head with a door, carrying-pulleys for the several cords, ashiftable bolt on the car to operate the cross-heads, and a frame orholder for the bolt formed with a U-shaped or crooked slot, the boltbeing provided with an extended part to enter said slot, the ends of thelatter forming stops o r rests for the bolt, substantially as shown anddescribed.

3. A mechanism for operating doors of clevator-wells, consisting ofparallel ways within the well, coacting movable cross-heads held in theways, a cord connecting thelower crosshead with one of the doors, a cordconnecting the upper cross-head with the other door, a cord connectingthe two doors, and pulleycarrying arms K L, reaching out from the frontof the doors, to operate substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. A device for operating a door of an elevator-well, consisting of achannel or raceway with parallel sides within the well, two crossheadsheld to move in a line directly toward or from each other, but not topass each other in the channel, a cord to connect the crossheads, amovable door for the well, acord connecting the upper cross-head withsaid door, a cord connecting the lower cross-head with the door, andpulleys to carry the various cords, each of the two cross-heads beingconnected directly and independently with the door, whereby the door ismoved in either direction by an upward motion of the crossheadcontrolling it during said motion, sub stantially as described.

5. The doors F and G of an elevator-well, provided, respectively, withsliding thimbles s and t, in combination with cord 1', secured to thethimble t, cord 6, secured to the thimble s, cord 01:, connecting saidthimbles, pulley u for the cord 1", pulley "a for the cord e, andpulleys Z and w for the cord at, substantially as shown and described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 26th day ofDecember, 1890, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN R. HOPPER. Witnesses:

ENos WHITMORE, M. D. PHILLIPS.

